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Author Powell, Margaret, 1907-1984.

Title Below stairs : the classic kitchen maid's memoir that inspired "Upstairs, downstairs" and "Downton Abbey" / Margaret Powell.

Edition First U.S. edition.
Publication Info. New York : St. Martin's Press, 2012.
Bookmark link: https://library.naperville-lib.org:444/record=b1522499~S1
Location Call No. Status
 95th Street Adult Biography  BIO POWELL    ON HOLDSHELF
 Nichols Adult Biography  BIO POWELL    AVAILABLE
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Description 212 pages ; 22 cm
Note Orignally published: London : Davies, 1968.
Summary This work is a kitchen-maid's through-the-key hole memoir of life in the great houses of England. At fifteen, she arrived at the servants' entrance to begin her life as a kitchen maid in 1920s England. The lowest of the low, her world was one of stoves to be blacked, vegetables to be scrubbed, mistresses to be appeased, and even bootlaces to be ironed. Work started at 5:30 am and went on until after dark. In this memoir, the author tells her tales of service with wit, warmth, and a sharp eye. From the gentleman with a penchant for stroking housemaids' curlers, to raucous tea dances with errand boys, to the heartbreaking story of Agnes the pregnant under-parlourmaid, fired for being seduced by her mistress's nephew, this book evokes the long vanished world of masters and servants portrayed in Downton Abbey and Upstairs, Downstairs. This is the remarkable true story of an indomitable woman, who, though her position was lowly, never stopped aiming high.
Subject Powell, Margaret, 1907-1984.
Cooks -- Great Britain -- Biography.
ISBN 9781250005441 (hardback)
1250005442 (hardback)
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SRP 2013
SRP 2013 X
August 13 2013
SRP 2013 REVIEW: True story of young,poor girl in service before WWI. Interesting stories of her employers and her positions working below stairs. Might be resource for TV shows mainly Upstairs,Downstairs and Downton Abbey. Fun read.
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